Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"I am no spy but the occurrence of the recent disturbances and today's incident, all point towards Saptsindhu's growing impertinence. The defeats which that country has faced over the years hasn't been enough. It seems we need to teach them a lesson, one which they wouldn't easily forget in the years to come. Get the head of defense to meet me before tomorrow night's meeting," Rani Samyulta told Indrani.     

Southern Zilla     

"Why are you sulking ever since you got here? Fought with your girlfriend?" Harshvardhan asked his son while they strolled next to the lake outside their mansion.     

They had just finished dinner and Yash was pointedly silent all through the meal.     

"How do you care even if I did? As long as your life doesn't get affected by it, you would not intervene in any matter, isn't that correct?" Yash replied sullenly.     

He looked at his son in surprise. This was the first time that he had spoken to him in this tone and manner. For as long as he could remember, Yash had been a polite and sensible child with not a single bad deed against his name.     

It seemed that something was burning up his son's insides for him to have lashed out in this manner. He chose to deal with it calmly instead of taking offence to his words.     

"That's not a fair assessment. I may not be ready to go to war on every single issue, like your mother, but that doesn't mean that I am not concerned. Tell me what has happened to put you in such a foul mood," he cajoled Yash.     

"Mom is forcing her will on me and that has caused a lot of misunderstandings between me and Mriga. Are you aware that she has already reached out to the girl's parents and spoken about our engagement? To top it, she has invited that girl to stay with us during this semester break without even bothering take me into confidence. Does my opinion not matter in regards to the decision which will affect me for my entire life? I feel as if I am on a leash," he burst out.     

For the past many weeks, this angst had been building inside him but he had nowhere to vent it out.     

Harshvardhan looked at his son in guilt. He knew that his wife had been upto her power play and lobbying for some time now but he had stayed away from meddling into her affairs till this moment. His son had been right about that one thing. As long as it didn't impact him, he didn't care much about it. He hadn't even bothered going for her award ceremony in the capital because of the same reason. As a result, he didn't know that the situation with Yash had reached this stage already. To the best of his memory, they had just spoken about it offhand during the previous holidays when Yash had come home. How is it that his wife had gone ahead and engaged into a conversation with the other party without his consent? He frowned as the implications sank in.     

"Your mother is expected to return from her tour of the zilla by tomorrow morning. I promise you that once she is back, I will sort this out. I am sorry to have let you down till now. But I will make it up to you. Don't worry," he said firmly.     

Yash's heart relaxed slightly after listening to his father's words. But the unease didn't disappear completely. He knew that things with Mriga hadn't ended on a good note and it was making him extremely anxious.     

Northern Zilla     

The next morning, Bela accompanied Shaurya to the clinic and asked the Vaidya to do his full body examination.     

"I need to know how much physical exertion can his body take at this time without affecting his recovery," she asked the guy.     

"Ok sure. I will do a thorough exam. Speak with me in the evening about it once you return from work," the Vaidya said.     

Bela frowned and said, "Why in the evening? You don't seem to have a long line of patients waiting outside right now."     

The Vaidya shook his head at her behaviour, "Why are you so impatient all the time, Bela? I told you that I will tell you the result by this evening? Where is the fire?"     

The man was the same age as her but had a slight chip on his shoulder about being more intelligent by the virtue of his profession. Under most circumstances, she tended to ignore his behavior but today she was not in an obliging mood. She had just finished a round with Raghu at home who had gone back into his sulking mode and now this man was trying to give her the lip.     

She banged her hand at the table, making various pouches of herbs spill out the contents.     

"I am the client who has brought you a patient. I will be paying for the services which you render. Pray tell me, who asked you to make decisions on my behalf? I am waiting outside. I want to know the prognosis in fifteen minutes. It's just a physical examination. I am not asking you to carve out his heart," she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.     

The Vaidya paled and his hand went on his own heart, involuntarily. Nodding his head, he waited as she stormed outside the cabin.     

Shaurya suppressed his grin which was hovering around his lips. The woman was magnificent. He waited while the man poked him in various places and asked him to open his mouth, eyes etc. Truth be told, he was feeling much better now and itching to get out of the resting mode. Except for a slight weakness, there was nothing wrong with him. The wound on his neck was also almost healed.